The Corpse Harvest

A rebellion in Balri which was ruthlessly put down.

The Conflict

Prelude

Slavery and oppression were nothing new in Balri but at the end of spring in 376 FA an incident in the village of Haverstock to the southeast of Wordin sparked the creation of the People's Liberation Army and started the events leadomg to the Corpse Harvest. It started as a fairly minor thing by the standards of Barli, a baron passing through the village ordered his guards to beat a gnome who had tripped and spilled a goblet of wine he was bringing to the baron. On any other day this might have gone unremarked but on this day a group of travellers from Trem happened to be in the village and took offense at the baron's orders. Not content with exchanging words, these travellers attacked and killed the guards before hanging the baron. With no thought as to the consequences of their actions, the travellers then cheerfully left Haverstock, happy in the knowledge that they had done a good thing.
The residents of Haverstock realised that there would be violent repercussions and the freemen and their families quickly packed up and left, planning on reporting the travellers and passing the blame onto the lower castes. The serfs, halflings, and gnomes were all to aware that they would likely be executed as an example, but while many were tempted to flee, one gnome - Crellbub Mixenwisp wanted to fight. Crellbub had survived over a century of abuse, and he had listened to tales of other lands where people were treated more fairly. Convinced that this was a chance for people like him to throw off their shackles he gave a passionate speech to his fellows about seizing this opportunity. Almost half of the remaining people in the village agreed to take up arms with Crellbub forming the beginnings of the People's Liberation Army.

Deployment

The first skirmish was fought in HAverstock when a squad of 20 guards arrived to deal with the village. Not expecting any resistance they were shocked when the Crellbub's forces attacked them. Despite their surprise the guards were trained fighters and Crellbub lost 30 of his volunteers with another 10 badly injured in killing or capturing 18 of the guards. 2 of the guards managed to escape and Crellbub had his followers vent their frustratio by having them tear the captured guards apart.
Realising they needed to gather more fighters before the guards could return, Crellbub led those fit to fight to another village where they drove out the freemen and their families. Once again their were many willing to join the cause and Crellbub eagerly welcomed anyone willing to march with him. With speed being of the essence, Crellbub divided his forces so that they could reach several villages at once.  Crellbub's forces swelled and they launched attacks on several manor houses before the residents realised they were in danger.  Emboldened by their success the force now calling itself the People's Liberation Army began spreading out over northern Balri.
The nobility and other slave owners fled to the towns in search of shelter, gathering valuables and soldiers together.  Several smaller towns fell to the PLA, as the former slavss swarmed the walls and gates.  During the assault on Chigford Crellbub was killed when an arrow took him in the throat, and the PLA's momentum faltered as several candidates vied for the leadership.  This brief pause in the PLA's attacks gave the nobles the time they neded to request aid from the south which ultimately led to the rebellions downfall.
When the PLA restarted their attacks in earnest it was under the command of Annabelle Rockfist who had once fought for the entertainment of the nobles.  With the middle of summer already in sight, Annabelle was worried about supplies for the PLA so she ordered them to seize Wordin and it's large granaries.  Unfortrunately for the PLA. Wordin's defences were far stronger than the town's they had taken previously, and they were unable to breach it's walls.  After months of futile effort and with harvest time fast approach, Annabelle received word that an army was marching from the south under the king's banner.  Not wanting to be caught between this army and the town walls, Annabelle ordered the PLA to march to meet this new threat. 
When the two armies met on the fields of Viderna the PLA were delighted to find that they outnumbred the king's army by 2 to 1.  Despite repeated cautions from Annabelle the other leaders of her forces were convinced victory was a foregone conclusion and ordered an all out charge by the PLA.  It was then that the PLA learned the difference between a mob and a well trained army.  The initial charge was met with well armoured soldiers who used spears and heavy shields to hold back the poorly equipped PLA.  Archers rained down arrows from behind the cover of that wall of flesh and steel, with the compressed ranks of the PLA making it almost impossible for an arrow to hit anything otehr than a person.  Though dismayed by their losses the PLA continued to push forward, convinced that their numbers would tell in the end.  The war casters of Balri then took a hand, firing spells into the press of PLA bodies, burning and shocking dozwns at a time.  Units of cavalry that had been waiting for the moment to strike began scything away at the sides of the PLA army and chasing down any who attempted to flee.
By the end of the day the PLA was no more with a few dozen wounded survivors all that remained of the rebellion.  The fields that just days before had been close to being ready for harvest now held broken, blood soaked crops and piles of corpses.  In order to avoid the corpses becoming a lure for carrion, and to provide a lesson on the consequences of rebellion, workers were brougth in from surviving estates to gather up and bury the dead in mass graves.  This became known as the corpse harvest, though the name later became associated with the whole rebellion.

Outcome

The PLA was slaughtered and the nobility regained control.  The death toll amongst those who worked the land meant that was a shortage of food in the north for several years further increasing the hardship of those who had survived.

Aftermath

In the following centuries several groups took on the name and goals of the PLA, though none dared to emulate the open warfare that had led to the corpse harvest.
After learning about the reasons for the start of the rebellion, Balri began barring entry to travellers from other lands, apart from authorised merchants.  This helped to increase the fear and distrust with which other lands viewed Balri and also increased the xenophobia within Balri.

Battlefield Type

Land

Start Date

Armin 376 of the First Age

Ending Date

Saum 376 of the First Age

Conflict Result

The nobility were victorious and there no rebellions in the north of Balri for centuries

Belligerents

People's Liberation Army (PLA)

Nobility of Balri

• Balri

Strength

A collection of slaves and serfs from the north of Balri, armed with anger, conviction, and farm implements

The nobility had the armies of Balri on their side, and the constant warfare with Trem and Filishar had meant many of the nobles were no stranger to battle.  Well equipped with cavalry, archers, and trained foot soldiers the nobility may have been outnumbered at the start but this situation did not last long.  The addition of several of the royal war casters improved the nobles' forces from being superiror to being overwhelming.

Casualties

The PLA suffered nearly 90% casualties, and those that survived were frequently missing a limb.

Apart from some early victims who were caught unawares by the PLA the nobility of Balri suffered relatively few casualties.  Their forces suffered ~20% casualties, mainly among the foot soldiers.

Objectives

The PLA were seeking to overthrow the nobles and other higher castes in Balri by killing anyone in authority and confiscating the property of anyone deemed to have profited from the work of slaves.

The nobles were seeking to protect their privileges and prosperity from the PLA rebellion.  Knowing that any hint of leniency would likely provike another rebellion they offered no quarter, and infact rewarded any soldiers who came up with new and gruesome ways of executing any captives.